In 2022, a simple shafthole stone axe was found in the village of Nagļi, Rēzekne district in eastern Latvia. In contrast to hundreds of other simple shafthole axes, this specimen – representing the socalled almondshaped type – is distinguished by the fragment of a wooden haft preserved in the shaft hole. This provided a unique opportunity to date the axe: the Nagļi artefact is only the second Bronze Age shafthole stone axe that has been directly radiocarbon dated in the eastern Baltic area. The result, 780–540 cal BC, confirms the typochronological conclusion that almondshaped axes were used in Latvia in the Late Bronze Age (1100–500 BC). However, it cannot confirm or refute their continued use in the PreRoman Iron Age (500–1 BC). Analysis of the haft revealed that it was made of oak (Quercus sp.), distinguishing it from previously analysed Bronze Age stone and metal axes in the eastern Baltic region, where ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) was often used.
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